When you love somebody
by no milk left
Summary: Young McLeod's ... Stevie is leaving Gungellan after some rodeo years with Alex and Claire ...
1. Chapter 1

**If you love somebody …**

_I started a new story. It has been ages, not sure if I still got that flow. I do hope I will be able to finish it, and would love reviews. That will keep me writing._

**Chapter 1.**

'You're leaving?', he asked surprised, his voice clear. Alex' eyebrows lifted in disbelieve, and he was trying to wrap hiis mind around the thought of Stevie leaving town. Claire raised her eyebrows in a different way, seeing that look upon her friend's face.

Stevie took a deep breath and nodded. A weird kind of shyness was washing over her, and for a moment the red head wished to be gone already. But just as quickly she changed her attitude and turned around her bar stool towards the bar tender, ordering another beer.

Alex's gaze had followed her for a moment before turning towards Claire, like she could give clearance or just tell him it was a joke, or she would change her mind. But his friend didn't seem to share the way he felt, ad just raised her shoulder for a moment. Slightly agitated he turned towards Stevie again, and pushed her shoulder. 'Come on cowgirl, why on earth leaving? You've got the good life here'.

'Sometimes it's good to have a change of scenery', she just told him with a short look, lifting a fresh bottle of beer. 'Oh I see George, gonna catch up'. She was gone before he realised it, stepping of her stool as only she could, and parading away in her short denim skirt, with boots to shine.

'Why on earth is she leaving', he muttered along as he watched her stride away. Claire looked at him; 'come on Alex, you know Stevie, she is not one to stick around for long.' It was the ease in which she told him this, that annoyed him. His blue eyes lighted up, staring into hers. 'She's been around here for two years … and, you knew?'

'She told me something along those lines a few days ago. And to be honest, I think she has wanted to leave for quite some time now. Like she said, sometimes it's good to have a change of scenery'. Claire looked across the pub. It was starting to get more crowded, everyone seemed to be up for a party night. Alex shove his shoulder against hers, swallowing a swig of beer down his throat. 'Says Claire McLeod … who could have told me this', he noted, rising his brow at her.

She narrowed her eyes; 'Alex, if she had wanted you to know this earlier she would have told you. And it's not like I can just leave town. Dad needs me at Drovers. Stevie doesn't have a reason to stay at one place.' It seemed to make sense, but these thoughts stayed in his mind for a moment longer. 'She must have a family too, who wants her to come home …' He just said it out loud, but it could easily only have stayed in his mind. Claire took it as such, but he added, turning his full attention to her again: 'maybe she's got her own Harry'.

His mind was suddenly starting to think in full speed.


	2. Chapter 2

_Sorry __if __my __English __sucks __slightly, __it's __been __a __long __time. __I __do __hope __you __will __like __this __second __chapter. __Keep __me __going, __keep __on __reviewing!_

**Chapter****2.**

Stevie marched through the lady's room, her elbow marking Tina's to make her way towards the cracked mirror. Only to see her pale face, strains of red framing it. Within a second she felt the cold water rush down her wrists. She closed her eyes for a moment, breathing in deeply. Thoughts went through her head, thoughts she wanted to neglect. She had to go back in and just have a great evening before taking off. The only thing she had planned was to take the A20 towards the East in the morning.

His blue eyes searched through the pub, but she was nowhere to be seen. Those familiar red curls, the fiery look in her deep brown eyes, which turned soft at moments he didn't expect it, moments he never knew how to act. Or what to say.

It only had been a few months now since everything seemed to be normal again, since Claire, he and Stevie had took their turns on the regional rodeos. He had gone his own way, as a lone wolf of to whatever seemed to work for him for nearly a year, after the heartbreak Tracey had caused. He had never spoken about it, just turned away but finally seem to get back on track.

Tonight he had planned it perfectly, wearing his tight new black shirt, the easy grin on his lips, and letting his blue gazers do the rest. A night to pick up some hot gal and enjoy the night, as he done quite often over the past year. Claire made him stop his search; 'oh can you just please go over to Kimberly. That giggling and staring at you from across the pub is annoying the hell out of me'. His gaze dropped and saw the small blond and her few friends indeed doing what Claire described. And it suddenly annoyed him just as much.

'You know what?', he spoke, taking a final swig of his beer, planting the bottle with a determined move on the bar. 'I'm going for some fresh air'. The McLeod looked up at him with a frown: 'does it work like that these days? Come on, Alex, you can't expect her to come running after you like a love sick puppy do you?' Her words didn't reach him. They didn't make sense to him anyway, cause what on earth was she talking about anyway. 'See yah, Claire', he muttered, before quickly making his way towards the pub's entrance.

The door of the toilettes swung open and nearly hit him in the face, but with a rather fresh move he could avoid the wooden vertical boarding, but bumped into the small red head who had made her entrance. 'Wow, Steves', he mumbled, taking a step backwards. He could see her brown eyes look at him quickly, but her body was still in full speed programmed to walk out, to leave the Gungellan pub.

'Wait Stevie … where are you going?', he rushed after her, and oddly enough had trouble to catch up with her big strides. Luckily she had her typical way of walking so those big strides were accompanied by a same type of arm swing and he caught her right lower arm a second later. Spinning her around; ' hey cowgirl, what's going on? You're not planning on sneaking out on me, right?'


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks for reviewing, here's another chapter, and they slowly tend to get longer I noticed. ;)_

**Chapter 3.**

Stevie spun around, on the tips of her fine pair of boots. Her left hand lifted easily to brush away the curls which hung loosely in her face, her voice muttered his name and her wide smile appeared. He hadn't expected this, and the image in front of him gave him an odd feeling down his gut. The sense that there was something wrong with her seemed to fade away with staring at her beautiful smile for a second longer. 'I'm just … I wanted some fresh air I guess', she spoke, pointing towards her car, which was parked far down the parking lot.

'Yeah me too', he swallowed hard. Alex was searching for words as he kept staring at her. He suddenly felt like a dumb ass, not being able to get his smooth talking going. Smooth talking, why on earth would he wanted to do smooth talking on her. His inner struggle showed on his face and Stevie bit her lip, dropped her gaze to see that his fingers were still wrapped around her wrist.

'Uhm, maybe … well I'll be going for a walk now, than …', she started, in the hope he would let go of her, but he didn't move as she tried to turn away from him. 'Alex, you …' She took in his whole image. The tall slim boy, which could be called a man, but somehow Alex Ryan stayed a boy. That cheeky grin would never leave him, even though it wasn't anywhere in sight now. A big frown instead.

He suddenly realised that he was still holding her arm. 'Oh sorry', and let go. A short wry smile was shared and Stevie turned away, but Alex quickly stuffed his hands in the front pockets of his Wranglers and hurried after her. When he caught up with her again he just looked at her, following her pace; 'I'll walk along'. She nodded silently and kept holding that silence. Minutes later they passed her Ute and Alex gave a her another look. 'Where are you planning to go?'

'Uhm, just a walk down the road, I guess', she answered, biting her lip, cause she sensed he wasn't just asking that. 'No I mean, tomorrow, when you hit the road, where are you going Steves?' 'East', she quickly answered as it would be enough. Alex' brow frowned again. 'Just East?' Stevie nodded without looking at him and Alex couldn't find more words so he tagged along.

Minutes later he looked over his shoulder, seeing the lights of the parking lot, Gungellan pub, the houses that came after it, and accompanied them down the road. Would she ever turn around, go back or just walk the night away, he wondered. 'Are we planning to go back to the pub any time soon?' He finally caught her attention, as she looked up at him. 'You can go back Alex, if you want to, you don't have to follow me'.

He didn't know why, if it was the tone in her voice, or the look in her eyes. But it got to him, and he stood still. 'Really Steves, is this how you treat your mates? Like they are just some burden, when you seemed to have decided we are no longer fun to have around?' He had picked the 'we' instinctively, as in he and Claire, as her mates. Stevie's eyes grew bigger, staring at him, like he didn't understand. Why she was leaving, why she couldn't stay. He didn't have a clue right? 'You don't get it Alex'.

'Okay I might not be the smartest, I don't have my brother's brains Steves, but what on earth do I not understand? You just leaving like nothing out here has any meaning to you?' She stared away, bit her bottom lip and felt the tears burning behind her eyes. 'Cause that's what people do Alex, they walk out before they get hurt, before they become that burden.' It wasn't his brain trying to cope and make sense of this, Alex started to realise his heart was on the line. His heart which walls had been pulled up when She had left him, Stevie was doing the exact same thing, wasn't she?


	4. Chapter 4

_And another chapter, hop you will like it. It might get M-rated so be sure you track this story, cause I might need to changed its setting. _

**Chapter 4.**

'Steves ...', Alex let out in a small cynical way. It was the result of his mind trying to deal with it, but his heart was started to get aware of what she was talking about. 'I mean ...', he instantly added, knowing mentioning her like that was just the same as telling her to not take life that hard, as it wasn't. But it was, he knew it damn well.

Stevie suddenly stared at him, her big brown eyes filled with a mix of agitation and sadness; 'just go back will you, just have fun at the pub.' It was that same way of pronouncing her words that made Alex agitated right now. 'Like I don't understand, right? Like I am a dumb ass. If that's what you like to think of me!' His raised voice, and the hurt look in his eyes, made her winch a bit back. Stevie swallowed. Why did she always say the wrong things to the people she cared about. Why couldn't she be a mother, a daughter, a sister? A friend?

'I don't', she blurted out in full force, making her move a step forward. The tip of her boot messing with the dust underneath. 'I … I … I can't stay, it would only make things complicated. I will mess things up.' Alex shook his head in return; 'what would you mess up Stevie, you are great!' Those last few words got to him, realising he had said those. It suddenly eased them. He never had said those words in this way, in a way you tell someone you care.

Looking down, watching how her foot made circles in the sand, Stevie felt the emotions march through her body. Normally she would do a runner right now. But she knew Alex would come after her. He wasn't as easily reassured as Claire was. Just like this evening proofed. 'You are …', his voice went soft. It made Stevie feel a shiver, realising how much she loved that voice, the one he pulled up when he got gentle, the part of him that wasn't that cool cowboy, but was that boy inside of him, who wanted to be a man.

At that very moment she knew she was in it too deep all ready. Darn! 'Thanks', she muttered, slowly looking up at him. Alex narrowed his eyes and looked at her, trying to make sense of this young woman. She wasn't easy, oh hell, she wasn't easy. Some how he loved to have girls around him that were tough, amazingly stubborn, the ones he wouldn't touch with a finger as they were so much more that the easy girls. The ones he could fool. But this one, she held a certain softness underneath that barely showed, a femininity that was covered by toughness, hardship probably. How much did he know about her, about that family, where she came from? It puzzled him.

'You wanna hang out by the dam? I mean, just somewhere quiet … look at the stars'. If he didn't know better, this could be one of his pick up lines, but only this time he meant it. Stevie snorted; 'right … you are talking to the wrong girl, Alex'. She had been that girl, nearly five years ago, and she knew where that had taken her. Turning around to return to the pub, Alex marched behind her again, catching up. 'I don't mean it like that, I mean …', he sighed, why did this have to be so hard? 'I mean, I don't feel like going to the pub again, I feel like … I feel like spending some time with a mate who is about to leave, just that!' He was rather pleased with himself, those last lines came out fluently and very sure. He could only hope she would notice that too.

'You sure?', Stevie finally asked, stopping her fast pace. Alex stepped in front of her and looked at her, nodding like crazy. 'Hundred percent sure, cowgirl, you can trust me on this one!' She smirked a little at his ways, he was doing the best he could, making an effort. For her. 'Okay, Ryan, but I'll be driving'.


	5. Chapter 5

_Sorry for letting you wait, but here is another one. Happy 2012!_

**Chapter 5.**

Alex tapped his fingers on the dashboard of her Ute. Not sure if it was to break the silence, a hint of insecurity as he looked aside and saw Stevie being focused on the bumpy road. He felt like humming but her radio was off, or better, it was broken and his eyes got tired from the darkness that surrounded him, the moon light giving him a bit of relieve. He wanted to say something, but simply didn't. Most things he said weren't brilliant anyway.

'We're there', she suddenly noted and with a quick move she opened her door and stepped out. Alex could hardly blink in the mean time, being a bit dazed by her fast ways. The little red head seemed to always be a step faster, quicker, one ahead of him. Hardly able to catch her, unreachable as it was. His thoughts surprised him, like his mind hadn't been as occupied with anything like this in a long time … 'I'll follow you', he hastily spoke, as if she could hear it. But Stevie just stood there, staring into the distance. The stars above them, the wide river in front of her, reflecting the moon light.

She took in a deep breath, and breathed out, slowly and long, as felt herself relax for a bit. This was a place, a spot near Gungellan that held something magic, especially at night. She would miss this place for sure. But she wasn't sure if the presence of this man, this boy, as Alex Ryan wasn't known for his soon coming adultness, was a wise thing. But she held that thought hidden and didn't want to pay much attention to it, as she wished for many, concerning himself. She felt his presence, somewhere behind her, as he didn't seem to move closer.

Alex felt insecure, tugging his hands deep into the front pockets of his Wranglers. His blue checked shirt got caressed by the small summer breeze. 'It's nice out here'. His voice had cracked, not steady, but at least he said something. He could see how Stevie turned her face, looked over her shoulder and showed a weak smile, nodding quietly. She than took a few steps, pushing the tip of her boots into the sandy underground. 'Can you get the beer out of the back, Ryan', she simply stated.

He hushed towards the back of her red Holden, and searched through her stuff as he forgot where they had hidden the six pack. 'And a blanket', he heard her add. Stevie smirked a bit, turning around and seeing him paying another bit of effort to please her. She knew him, tough on outside, but as soft on the inside. Just as scared to show of that part of him as she was. She could identify herself with him, apart from the rich family he belonged you, and all that came with it. Growing up to inherit his father's farm, but that probably would be more suited for his brother.

What was his name again? Nick? She could only remember seeing him once or twice. There was a bigger chance to see him around the property of the McLeod's, than to see him alongside his older brother. That wasn't the strongest brotherly bond. It wasn't like she was close to her sister Michelle, but Michelle raised her hope, her precious little girl. She would turn four soon, and Stevie only fulfilled the role of aunt, auntie Stevie, who dropped buy once in a while, tried to brings presents she barely could afford.

Her thoughts got interrupted by Alex offering her a bottle of beer. 'Steves?' 'Uh, yeah, thanks', she uttered, and he quickly showed her the tree behind them, decorated by a blanket, a swag, her bag with clothes probably suited to be used as a pillow … and more beer. 'Wow', Stevie mumbled impressed; 'nice work Alex'.


End file.
